A new Love
by crimson.blood.witch
Summary: Logan moars his loss. A flash of light, and a new sent. Can he risk love again, or will he lose another.
1. Chapter 1

Logan sat on his back deck, drinking his beer and thinking of Marie. She had been everything to him: life, love, and the hope of a new life after Rose's death, until she was snatched away from him. Just when Logan had thought he could love again, safely, she had died. She had been gone ten years, but his heart still ached with every thought of her.

A sudden explosion shook the ground and brought Logan out of his thoughts. Through the dark woods he saw a flash of light, deep in the heart of the forest. The local wolf pack started howling almost immediately, going crazy. This made him curious: what was going on?

Logan stood up and sniffed, his beer set aside and forgotten. Something was off; the air was different somehow. Logan walked into the woods following the scent. There was a stranger on his land and it was feral. Logan walked, swiftly but calmly, as the scent grew stronger.

He walked till he came to a clearing at the center of the woods. There in the clearing lay a Cryo-tube, with the local wolf pack lying around it whimpering. The front of the tank was missing; as Logan walk closer he saw a beautiful woman lying unconscious within it.

The Pack Alpha came up beside him, whimpering and sniffing at the woman. Logan nodded at him and knelt down next to the tube. Wires lead from a control panel to the woman's body. Logan read the information "Test Subject 1 (Santana) Mutation: feral, shape shifter, high healing factor, Class 5 mutant". Logan carefully removed the wires and slowly picked her up. Holding her close to his chest he sensed how cold she was: she was still partially frozen.

Logan took her back to his cabin, and once inside carefully placed her on his bed. Seeing her nakedness he pulled a sheet over her bare form. Logan then went to the closet and pulled out some of Marie's old clothes and put them on the bed-stand. He sat in the chair close to the bed to wait for her to wake.

After three days Santana woke slowly. As she opened her eyes she recognized nothing. She felt lost. Where was she? She sat up so fast she fell off the bed.

The noise jolted Logan awake, and he jumped up to see if his guest was ok. He found her in a corner, shaking and afraid, clutching the sheet around her as her only protection. He walked towards her, but before he could say anything she jumped at him! Disheveled hair hit his eyes and over-long nails clawed at his face, but Logan knew the acrid scent coming from her was fear and not aggression. He pulled her off of him, trying to 'shhh' her, to let her know she was safe.

He tried to be gentle. He did not want to hurt her or cause her any more fear.

There was a flash of light, and the beautiful girl in his arms turned into a snake, a sinewy Black Mamba that snapped at him and slipped through his fingers. With another flash he found her standing at the back of the room. He held his hands out to the side to show he meant no harm, but the fear scent came off her even stronger.

"I will not hurt you," he finally said. "I only want to help. Please don't be afraid."

Finally she spoke. "I will not go back into the glass cage," she gasped.

Logan shook his head.

"You will never have to go back in it," he soothed.

A small whimper came from her lips; she didn't know if she could trust him.

Logan remembered the plate within the Cryo-tube. It had said she was feral: like him. Words would mean little to her, he had to show her she could trust him.

Feral people-like him-did not function on intellect alone, so many people thought them ignorant. Logan knew that was false. The feral had a different rhythm with the world around them, and with the way they interacted with others. To calm the feral within his cabin, he rumbled deep in his chest, more a purr than a growl, and slowly walked towards her. He stopped just inches away from her: claws retracted, hair down, eyes wide and calm. He just stood there, breathing slowly, avoiding her eyes and letting her catch his scent.

Her breathing slowed, and she traced a finger along his collarbone. She shivered and closed her eyes.

"You're safe here," he murmured.

"Won't go back," she whispered.

"No. Never." He said.

Logan finely got a good look at her, and found her beautiful. Santana was tall, easily 5'7", with long black hair, sun-kissed skin, and toned muscles. She had a small waist, and her lips were lush and red, but it was her eyes that stopped his heart and made it hard for him to breath. He had never seen eyes like hers before; they were as black as a moonless, starless night sky, with flakes of emerald green in them.

"Can you understand me?" He asked gently.

She nodded, and he made the rumbling/purring sound in his chest again. Santana tilted her head to the side, opening her neck to him so he could catch her scent better. He smiled a little; her fear had eased. Logan saw she was shivering, so he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her.

Santana's nostrils flared briefly; she could smell leather, cigars, woods, and Logan. She looked up to say thank you but the room started to spin, and everything went black.

Logan caught her before she hit the floor. As he pulled her up into his arms a strange feeling started to stir in his chest, one he had not felt in ten years: longing. He looked down at the woman in his arms, pondering. Could he be feeling this for her, or was it just from being alone all this time? Had he been alone for so long that the presence of one beautiful woman would wake his manhood again? He shook himself: he couldn't afford to start thinking like that. Santana had been in his house for less than a week, and conscious less than a day. It wasn't right.

Logan lay Santana back down on the bed and went to make a phone call.


	2. Chapter 2

"Xavier' School for Gifted Children, how can I help you?" It was Storm on the other end. He couldn't help but smile at the sound of her voice on the line. "Hello, is someone there?"

"Hey, Ro. How are you?"

Storm forgot her office manners in her excitement. "Logan? Logan, is that you?" she yelled. "How have you been, is everything ok?"

He laughed, picturing her white hair crackling with lightening in her excitement.

"I'm fine, Ro," he began, and then told her what had happened. "Can Henry can come and take a look at the woman? I can't do much for her here."

"Hang on," Storm said, "I will ask; he's right here."

Henry picked up the phone next. "Logan!" he bellowed into the phone. "Storm and I will be right there old friend! Put me on something to eat!"

Count on Hank McCoy to cheer him up. Logan hung up and went to the kitchen to make some food.

The potatoes were finished, the wild greens he had gathered were tossed into a bowl, and Logan was almost done cooking the steaks when the knock came. When he opened the front door he found Storm standing there, smiling, with Henry by her side.

"Hey, guys," he said, and opened the door wider to let them in.

Storm hugged him. "Hey, Logan! I have missed you!"

"Good to see you, Logan," Hank added. "Where's dinner?"

Logan chuckled. "In here, Fur-ball. I've missed you too. Dinner will be done in a minute, and then I'll take you to see how Santana is doing."

They sat and ate. Logan and Hank made short work of the rare steaks, but Storm contented herself with a small portion of meat and ate most of the salad. When they were done Logan led them to the front room so he could tell them everything that had happened.

Logan was about halfway through the tale when he heard Santana stir in the bedroom. Suddenly she started yelling:

"No! No! Let me go!"

A high-pitched scream filled the cabin, and Logan ran to the bedroom. He quickly saw Santana thrashing in her sleep, and realized she was having a nightmare. He went over to the bed and sat next to her.

"Hey, Santana. It's ok," he soothed. He placed a hand on her arm to calm her, and tried to wake her up. Looking closely at her exposed flesh he saw faint scars that covered her body. How had he not seen these before?

"What happened to you baby girl?" He murmured. He looked up at a soft sound: Storm was standing in the doorway, looking worried. He nodded to her that everything was all right, and she went back to the living room with Hank.

When Santana was calm he went back to the living room and finished the tale: what he seen in the woods and how the wolves had acted.

"Do you think she is one of Stryker test subjects?" Hank was all business, as usual.

Before Logan could answer him Santana screamed again.

"Loki! Loki, where are you?" she cried. "Help me my brother!"

Logan looked at Henry and Storm, troubled. "Now that," he said, "is a name I have not heard in a longtime."

Storm raised her eyebrows. "Maybe you should call him, Logan. He might be able to shine some light on this for us."

Logan nodded. "You're right," he groused, "it is time to make another phone call. I'm just not looking forward to it.

The phone rang three times, and Logan heard a grouchy Nick Fury answer.

"Director Fury speaking. Whoever this is, this had better be fucking important! Someone had better be dying for you to call me at Oh-Six Hundred and before my coffee!"

Logan smirked. The man never changed, except to get grumpier.

"Yeah, Patch, this is Wolverine, and it is fucking important. I need to speak to Agent Loki ASAP."

"Hey, Canuck! Look, it's nice to know you are still kicking, but Loki is off on a mission for Odin and I can't reach him." Fury had called him "Canuck" since their WW2 days, when Logan had been in the Canadian Special Forces.

Logan sighs and rubbed his temple. "Is Thor there then? I have something here that probably belongs in Asgard."

"He is with Dr. Foster in New Mexico."

"Can you reach him?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Great. Tell him it is important that he come to my cabin in Canada."

"Logan, what is this all about? Thor's goanna want to know why we're interrupting his time with Dr. Foster."

_Yeah, right_, Logan thought, _like you really care about interrupting Thor's date._

"I'm not sure yet, Patch," he said. "That's why I need to see one of them. Better safe than sorry with this Asgard stuff."

"Yeah, ok," Fury said, "but keep me informed, alright?"

"Yeah, Patch," Logan said, "and thanks." He hung up the phone and sighed. He trusted Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. only slightly more than Stryker's organization, but at least S.H.I.E.L.D wasn't anti-mutant.


End file.
